LA model Maleesa Mooney opened her home to alleged killer only to be ‘repaid with torture and murder’: prosecutors

The felon accused of killing a Los Angeles-based model whose body was stuffed into her fridge had been staying at her apartment, which she opened to him “with trust” – only to be “repaid with torture and murder,” prosecutors said.

Magnus Daniel Humphrey had been living with Maleesa Mooney, 31, at her luxury apartment in downtown Los Angeles at the time of her September 2023 slaying, though it’s unclear what their relationship was, LA County District Attorney George Gascón said in the statement Thursday.

“Ms. Mooney opened her home to this individual with trust, but was repaid with torture and murder. The heinous disregard for Ms. Mooney’s life will not go unpunished,” Gascón said as he announced charges against Humphrey.

“Justice is being sought, and he will be held accountable,” he added.

Humphrey appeared on Thursday for the first time in court, where he pleaded not guilty to one count of murder and one count of torture.

He was ordered to remain held without bail pending his next court appearance on March 7.

Mooney, who was the sister of Guyanese pop star Jourdin Pauline, was found dead when the LAPD conducted a welfare check at her luxury apartment.

Police arrested Humphrey at his Hopkins, Minnesota, home on an unrelated warrant and he was identified as the “suspect responsible” for Mooney’s brutal slaying.

“We are very pleased that an arrest was made,” Mooney’s aunt Heather Hammock said outside the courthouse Thursday, ABC 7 reported.

“We’re full of so many different emotions. We are very grateful and thankful that he was caught. Please continue to pray for our family. We just want justice for my niece,” she added.

Authorities have not disclosed a possible motive or what led them to Humphrey, who allegedly stuffed Mooney’s body into her refrigerator while she was gagged and with her wrists and ankles tied.

Humphrey has been convicted of several felonies in Minnesota and Illinois, including gun charges, assaults, sexual assaults and false imprisonment, according to court records viewed by The Post.

Mooney’s family said they don’t know Humphrey and have no information on how the two may have known each other.

A coroner’s report found Mooney had suffered blunt force injuries to her face, head, back and upper left arm.

“The blunt force traumatic injuries observed at autopsy are generally not considered acutely life-threatening on their own,” officials said.

“However, based on the circumstances of how Ms. Mooney was found, these injuries suggest she was likely involved in a violent physical altercation prior to her death. Given this, the role that drugs and/or alcohol may have played in Ms. Mooney’s death, if any, is uncertain,” the report stated.

A toxicology report showed the model had benzoylecgonine, a cocaine metabolite, in her system along with a mix of cocaethylene and ethanol.

Mooney’s death came just two days after another model, Nichole “Nikki” Coats, was found dead inside her LA apartment on Grand Avenue.

Mooney worked as a real estate agent at Beverly Hills-based agency Nest Seeker and had only moved into her Skye at Bunker Hill unit a month before she was killed.

Her sister told KTLA at the time that Mooney was two months pregnant when she died and had always wanted to be a mom.

Mooney’s family is asking for privacy and prayers.

“She was an amazing, beautiful princess and we miss her very much,” her sister Jourdin Pauline told reporters, ABC 7 reported. “She loved her family.”